Midnight Sunrise
by Oz1
Summary: Lucius resides in a hollow shell, his heart bereft of sympathy and tenderness. The only remnant of good human emotion is the memory of love lost. Still, Lucius is unrecognizable from the boy he once was. He once was....good.
1. Current Day

Disclaimer: Although I don't own the characters and general plot of Harry Potter, my fic's plot is original and I lay claim to it.  
  
A/N: HUZZAH! First chapter up! This is only my second fic, but I tend to spend a lot of time of the ones I do have. My first, which I just finished, was 21 chapters and took almost a year to write, so if you stick with me it may take a while.....but an enjoyable while, maybe?  
  
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Lucius looked up from his desk, breathing in a cool breath of crisp, night air. The curtains streamed towards him on a breath of wind coming in from the wide French doors opening on to the patio of the Malfoy Manor. His faced, aged twenty-two years, was smooth and calm as he proceeded to finish his first report to the Minister. Stars, a rare sight in a sky so often covered with clouds, blinked down at him as he went back to his writing, his quill flying expertly across the parchment.  
  
A bell sounded on the other side of the house, breaking the peaceful silence of Lucius's workspace. His eyes narrowed as footsteps approached his study and a light knock sounded on his door. He took a few moments to finish writing his sentence, adding his last period with a flourish. He stood and stretched, his jaw cracking from an ear splitting yawn.,and walked to the door.  
  
A house elf poked his head nervously around the door and cleared his throat. Lucius stared down at him expectantly.  
  
"A visitor, for you Master."  
  
"Show him in," Lucius said, walking back to his desk and clearing off the papers he had left dangerously close to being blown off by the breeze. The house elf quietly closed the door and scampered off to alert the night caller. Lucius walked over to the French doors and started to shut them, when a white palm slammed against the glass, pushing Lucius back as the doors slammed inward.  
  
Lucius stumbled back, bumping his knee on his desk and dislodging the paper weight that was keeping his papers from flying everywhere. Lucius looked up, rubbing his knee and inwardly sighing. Peter Pettigrew stood in the open doorway, his black cape settling down across his back as the wind died down.  
  
"Wow. That was really.....unnecessary, Peter." Lucius said calmly, reaching behind Peter and closing the doors again.  
  
Peter sunk down a bit, his once dramatic pose broken as his fat fingers knotted together . He walked forward and winced as his voluminous cape ripped from getting stuck in the doors. "I was, you know, going for the—"  
  
"Dramatic entrance?" Lucius asked, sitting down in his chair and ringing a bell on the wall. "Well, seeing as my servant announced your arrival, you only looked stupid."  
  
Peter frowned, his mousy eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next as he moved to sit down in the chair opposite the desk.  
  
Peter started as the house elf lightly knocked on the door and peeked in. "You called?"  
  
"Fetch some ice. I seemed to have hit my knee on something hard," Lucius said, glaring at Peter. The house elf nodded and left Lucius and Peter in an awkward silence. Peter nervously tugged at his chair's tassel and wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt. Lucius sighed and leaned forward on his desk.  
  
"You had something for me?" he asked.  
  
Peter cleared his throat and nodded, placing his hands on the desk. Lucius drew back in slight disgust and settled back into his chair,  
  
"Yes," Peter replied. Lucius waited for him to continue. Peter cleared his throat again and removed his hands, leaving a faint print on the shiny wood.  
  
"What is the status on your infiltration of the Ministry?" Peter asked, pulling up his chin in what he thought was a striking way.  
  
Lucius raised his eyebrow in what he knew was a striking way and folded his arms across his chest. He remained silent as Peter suddenly grew self conscious and looked down. The only sounds that could be heard were the faint ticking of the wall clock and the uncomfortable squirming of Peter. Finally, Lucius sighed and opened the drawer under his desk, bringing out a stack of papers and blue prints. He arranged them in two piles on his desk as Peter watched curiously.  
  
As Peter moved to pick up a paper webbed with the red outlines of notes and diagrams, Lucius cleared his throat and pulled it away from Peter's wandering hand. The house elf appeared again and place the bag of ice on Lucius's knee. He then scampered off again, followed by Peter's watery eyes.  
  
"I've been hired." Lucius said simply, separating the papers into smaller piles and folding down the ends of certain ones.  
  
"Excellent. So they approve of your application?" Peter asked, his eyes growing smaller as he grinned mischievously.  
  
"Let's just say it wasn't my application that persuaded them," Lucius said, quickly loosing interest in the too eager Death Eater who, at that moment, started giggling. Lucius sent him a look of exasperation and Peter swallowed his giggle in a large gulp. "Are we finished now?" Lucius asked.  
  
"You're not the one who should be acting superior, Lucius," Peter said, drawing himself up to his full height, which wasn't that tall. "Keep in mind that I'm the one who already infiltrated Hogwarts. I'm the one who led our Lord to James! I'm risking my life even BEING here!" He took a breath and sank back down. "You know what I mean," he finished lamely.  
  
Lucius, who had regarded this outburst with the most serenity he could muster without laughing, sniffed loudly and cleared his throat.  
  
"Peter, keep in mind also that you also had a hand in Voldemort's downfall," Lucius said. Peter looked up angrily, but was too taken aback to reply. "If you hadn't led him to the Potter's, he would be alive and killing today."  
  
Peter breathed in fast through his nose and stood up. He grabbed the paper weight and threw it at the wall. It bounced off harmlessly and fell into the thick rug on the floor.  
  
"Rubber," Lucius said, standing up with the papers in his hands. "It doesn't usually rip holes in walls." Lucius walked over to Peter and stuck the papers in his chubby hands. "These are what I could get my first week. Be sure to get them to an official before someone comes looking for you."  
  
"Looking for me?" Peter gulped, rolling up the papers nervously.  
  
"Yes. You said yourself you're in danger. James had many friends, but you already know that. Who do you think it will be? Sirius? Remus, perhaps?" Lucius reached down and picked up the paper weight.  
  
"I'd better be off," Peter whispered, moving towards the French doors.  
  
"Ah, Peter!" Lucius said sharply, placing the weight on his desk and guiding Peter away from his patio. "I trust you haven't forgotten how to Apparate?" Peter shook his head. "Then spare yourself the embarrassment and leave respectably."  
  
Peter tucked the papers in his cloak and nodded. Lucius flashed Peter a sardonic grin as he disappeared with a wonderfully frightened look on his face. Lucius breathed out a long breath of relief and moved back to his desk.  
  
It had been a shock to everyone to find out about Voldemort's downfall. As the celebrations raged on, the Death Eaters were already planning the next move, which required, foremost, infiltration into the Ministry. All they could do was sit and wait while acquiring as much helpful information as they could until their Master returned......  
  
He had been hired by the Ministry, which was the plan, but it didn't bring Lucius much satisfaction to know that bribes and threats were the main reason he had a job. His application was stunning, though, he had to admit to himself.  
  
The clock chimed twelve as he moved out of his study and down the darkened hallways to his bedroom. His mother, Maurel, slept in the room next to his study. He stopped and listened for her breathing. He couldn't hear anything, which led him to believe she had been up listening. Great. Either that or she died; also relatively satisfactory.  
  
The walls, curtained in dark, purple velvet looked shadowed and deep in the midnight-blue moon light. Lucius ran his fingers along either side of the wall as he walked, closing his eyes to savor the soft purple on his fingertips. He entered the room and lit a lamp. He checked outside for any lingering Wormtails and locked his windows. Outside, the moor stretched outwards and into forever beyond the small, white gates that bordered the Manor's garden. The trees and ground were bare of any leaves, what with the devoted gardeners chasing each leaf around with a rake and a curse.  
  
Lucius climbed into bed and blew out the lamp, his mind drifting deep into sleep, his thoughts winding through strings of emotions, thoughts, and memories..... 


	2. First Day

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is own by J.K Rowling, not me.....hmmm, unless.....  
  
A/N: I know no one has read this fiction so far, but I feel inclined to make an Arthur's note anyway......so......I'm done.  
  
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A solid beam of sun streamed into the gray room through the narrow crack in Lucius's curtain. Lucius stirred from his light sleep, blinking against the light that seemed so bright in the cold darkness of his room. He pulled the pillow over his face and breathed hard into the soft goose down.  
  
Hogwarts starts today....  
  
He got up a bit faster than usual in order to take a few more minutes to prep himself. He stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at the eleven year old boy staring back, white and pale faced. He had on the new clothes his mother had sent for from Diagon Ally and he had wet his short, blonde hair in a vain attempt to try to calm down his embarrassing cow lick. He breathed in a shaky breath and grasped his wand tightly against his leg.  
  
The hallway was still dark as he padded softly past red curtained windows towards the main staircase and down to the kitchen. He wasn't sure if he could eat breakfast, but maybe a glass of water would help the butterflies threatening to burst his stomach. The portraits were still sleeping along the front hall and his great uncle's snoring could be heard clearly and loudly from his painting.  
  
As Lucius entered the kitchen, he was met by the stern face of his mother, looking up from the Daily Prophet. She was dressed in a light gray terry robe and still in her slippers. She pursed her lips and looked back down to her paper, taking a small sip of coffee that had been carried in by an early house elf. Lucius swallowed and awkwardly moved to the sink to pour himself a glass of water.  
  
"I.....I didn't think you'd get up so early," Lucius said, opening the cupboard and taking down a glass.  
  
"Hogwarts starts today," Maurel answered, not looking up from her paper.  
  
"I know, mum." Lucius took a sip of the cold water, savoring the inevitable feeling of cold rush down the front of his chest. "I just didn't think it was that important to you."  
  
"You're going to be away for a year, so this is my only chance to speak to you before Miles takes you to King's Cross." Lucius sat down across from his mother and watched her turn the pages. Maurel, sensing his stare, looked up and folded her hands expectantly. "Hmm?"  
  
"I'm not coming home for Christmas?" Lucius asked, running his fingers along the sides of his glass and flicking the condensation onto the table cloth.  
  
"It will be harder for you to be away from home if you come home before you get adjusted," Maurel responded, handing her coffee cup to the house elf to be refilled.  
  
"But what if I don't know anyone?"  
  
"You're a Malfoy," Maurel responded simply. Lucius sighed and leaned back in his chair. 'You're a Malfoy' seemed to be her key response to all of his questions about Hogwarts for the past year and a half. It was getting old and less and less convincing the more she said it.  
  
"But still-"  
  
Miles tapped on the door politely and entered, taking off his hat.  
  
"Master Lucius, the car is waiting," Miles stated monotone, gesturing to the door with his white gloves hands.  
  
"Is his trunk packed?" His mother asked.  
  
"Everything is in order," Miles responded.  
  
"Well then, Lucius, get your jacket on and head off. It's a long drive," Maurel went back to her paper and that was it.  
  
Lucius marveled that she had gotten up before dawn just to tell him to put on his jacket and reveal he couldn't come home for Christmas. Miles waited as Lucius went over to her mother and met her outstretched cheek with a kiss.  
  
"Good bye, Mother," Lucius said, taking his jacket from Miles and heading out.  
  
"Remember, Lucius. You're a Malfoy!" Maurel said loudly at his retreating back.  
  
"How could I forget?" Lucius muttered as he crossed the front lawn to the car waiting in the road. Miles opened the door and Lucius slid in, casting a last look at the house he wouldn't see again until next summer. The trees were still covered in green leaves that cast shadows on the gray, bricked house. The red curtains peeked out through the glass on the windows and the wind chimes that Lucius had made during a dismal afternoon rang softly from his upstairs window sill. His mother had always hated them and he had no doubt that they would be taken down in his absence, but he was glad that he could hear them one last time before he left.  
  
The car drove away down the road towards King's Cross station, a silent four hour drive looming ahead of both Lucius and Miles.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Miles left him at the gate with his trunk and little else. He felt overwhelmed by the hustle of travelers around him, the hooting of owls, and the steam of the train. He wheeled his trunk to the front of the train and signaled to the driver.  
  
"Excuse me!" Lucius yelled over the awesome sound of the gate, "But could you tell me where I go from here?"  
  
The driver pushed up the brim of his hat and smiled warmly. "Hogwarts is where we're headed, so I suggest you find yourself a seat."  
  
"But where do I go?" Lucius yelled again, readjusting the backpack he had tied over his shoulder.  
  
"There're compartments in the train. Find one and make yourself some friends." The driver answered gruffly, pulling down his hat and smiling ruefully. Lucius breathed in hard, looking around wildly for someone to follow. A tall, red haired boy with glasses signaled a person on the train to open a compartment. Lucius hurried up to him and caught the door before he closed it.  
  
"Thanks for that!" Lucuis said, climbing into the compartment and plopping down heavily on a seat. The boy smiled faintly, pulling his back pack onto his lap and readjusting his glasses.  
  
The whistle blew and Lucius started, looking quickly out the window to watch as the train started to move. The red haired boy chuckled softly and pulled open his backpack. He pulled out a comic book and flipped to the middle, pushing up a dog-eared corner to read the colorful pages.  
  
Lucius watched as the train puffed slowly out of the station and into the green, summery countryside of England. He could feel his heart beating as he realized he was finally on his way. He zipped open his backpack in a sudden thought and checked to see that he had his wand, letter, and school books.  
  
"Didn't you bring any good reading?" the boy asked, glancing over as Lucius pulled out the Standard Book of Spells: Level 1.  
  
Lucius shook his head and opened the book to the first page. The boy reached into his backpack and pulled out a second comic book. He threw it across the compartment into Lucius lap.  
  
"Here. You don't want to read your school materials. You get enough of those at school." The boy said, going back to his comic book. Lucius leafed though his comic, which was titled "Vampires in Manhattan."  
  
"This isn't what vampires are like," Lucius said to himself as he looked at the morbid paintings of black cloaked Draculas and attacking bats.  
  
"Of course," the boy across from him said, looking at his cover of 'Frankenstein vs. the Wolfman.' "And no man can be made alive again with science. It's illegal even in magic. Americans are so warped." The boy smiled. "But I'm a sucker for Muggles. They've always amused me."  
  
Lucius reached over, offering his hand. "I'm Lucius."  
  
"Arthur," the boy responded, taking his hand and shaking it fervently. "Weasley's the name."  
  
"Oh." Lucius said, leaning back in his seat and looking out at the changing landscape outside his window.  
  
"What's yours?" Arthur asked, tapping the glass of his window.  
  
"Uh, Malfoy," Lucius muttered, glancing down and fingering the embroidering on his seat.  
  
Arthur nodded and smiled, reaching into his backpack for another comic. "Well, glad to meet you Lucius Malfoy." Lucius looked up, confused at Arthur's acceptance.  
  
"You mean, you haven't heard of the name Malfoy?" Lucius breathed, looking hesitantly up at Arthur.  
  
"Can't say that I have, chap," Arthur responded, looking up and glancing around as the tingling of a bell sounded from behind their door. "Trolley's here!"  
  
Lucius sat astounded as Arthur jumped up and proceeded to buy out the food trolley. He didn't know the name Malfoy? It was unbelievable, considering the way his mother went on about it. He thought that maybe now, away from home, he could finally make a new start.  
  
He was brought back to earth when Arthur plopped a chocolate frog into his lap and sat down next to him, emptying the massive contents of his arms onto the floor. All sorts of candy littered the bottom of their compartment.  
  
"Here we are! I got enough for both of us." Arthur said, his mouth already full of chocolate.  
  
"You really didn't have to......" Lucius started, toeing a box of Bertie Bott's by his foot.  
  
"Not a problem. My mum always gives me money in case I get hungry, and you looked unprepared." He looked pointedly at Lucius's school books. "It's tough to be a first year."  
  
"What year are you?" Lucius asked, unwrapping his frog.  
  
"Second. But I have a brother who went when I did so I was prepared my first year too. He graduated that year though." He swallowed and wiped his mouth. "Now he's out collecting samples for a study in Scotland."  
  
"What for?" asked Lucius.  
  
"Not quite sure," Arthur responded, reaching down for more candy. "It's with the Department of Mysteries, so we can't know."  
  
Lucius nodded and settled back in his seat to enjoy his chocolate frog and new friend as the train rolled along towards Hogwarts.....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The first years stood nervously up on the stage in their new surroundings, watching the sea of faces staring at them silently as Professor McGonnagal, a thirty something year old new-ish teacher, unrolled the scroll and placed the sorting hat on the stool, ready as any to determine their fate.  
  
Lucius glanced into the crowd as the first names were called out and searched for the friendly face of Arthur. He found him at the Gryffindor table with the biggest bunch of taller, older, and cheerier guys that Lucius had ever seen at one table. Arthur gave him the thumbs up and winked. Lucius smiled...  
  
"MacDonald, Hemish!" Professor McGonnagal called out.......  
  
............"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Maeford, Alena!"  
  
..........."RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"Malfoy, Lucius!"  
  
Lucius felt his face redden and his tongue turn to jelly as he stumbled across the stage and fell heavily on the stool. The hat fell over his face and darkness surrounded his vision. He could hear the whispering of the crowd and feel the moistness of his palms.  
  
"Let's see, let's see...." The hat whispered to itself, "there is potential, doubtless, yet the ambition and yearning to achieve is lacking....." Lucius held his breath, feeling as if the contents of his mind were being sifted through by a trash man. "...but I feel as if I must...it's a tradition you know......yes, I must....."  
  
....................SLYTHERIN!"  
  
The Slytherin table jumped up and cheered loudly, pounding their fists on the hard wood of the table as Lucius shakily made his way across the hall to the table. Arthur met his eyes on the way past the Gryffindor table, obviously disappointed.  
  
"Too bad, Lucius," Arthur said later, after the students were filing out of the Grand Hall to their houses.  
  
"Bad about what?" Lucius asked, still munching on a pumpkin cake.  
  
"That you didn't get sorted into Gryffindor," Arthur answered, breaking off a piece of Lucius's cake for himself. "I was looking forward to having a friend in my house."  
  
"We'll be friends," Lucius said, "After all, you are my first and only friend so far."  
  
Arthur nodded, filing off into the Gryffindor group heading up the main staircase. "You're my first too."  
  
Arthur went up the stair case, clutching his comic of Frankenstein, as Lucius went down the stone steps towards Slytherin..... 


	3. The Final Chapter

A/N: Hello to all! It seems I shall not be finishing this fan fiction. I'm busy, at the moment, writing an original novel called "Palet." What I have so far is on and I would love your input!

This is my profile with the link to 

Since I'm giving you the link without any summery, I shall include the summery I had to give :

PALET

"She was only Maggie. That is, until a man who could make the stars dance entrusted her with the salvation of his world and creator. Now Maggie must survive the strange land of Palet: a land of Moths, demented carnivals, and cynical French skeletons."

So....yeah. Sorry if I disappointed anyone. I really don't think anyone read this fic anyway. It's not a love story, so it didn't attract much attention. But "Palet" is awesome. Well, what I have so far anyway.


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